As the Liberal Democrats gathered at their spring conference to work out who was up, down, in or out as a result of Sir Menzies Campbell's victory in the leadership election, bookmakers were counting their profits after a contest in which political betting appears to have emerged as an important campaign tool.

Supporters of Chris Huhne, the tyro MP who emerged from nowhere to be runner-up in the contest, are alleged to have manipulated the betting market to make it seem as though their candidate was winning.